General James L. Jones

Howard G. Beasey

Mehmet Ali Yalçındağ

The opening plenary of this year’s conference will center on the restoration of political and business relations between the United States and Turkey, focusing on the ways in which the refurbishment of industry-to-industry relations may function as a gateway for mutual understanding and cooperation across sectors. Panelists will address the major issues affecting both countries while simultaneously depicting how collaboration may serve as the ultimate tool of engendering success, as individuals from either side are encouraged to develop mutually-beneficial solutions to common problems. This panel will underscore the historical value of the U.S.-Turkey alliance as well as demonstrate its prevailing significance, noting that hardship provides a unique opportunity for growth and the evocation of even more formidable relations going forward.

This panel will provide an update on the Turkish government’s domestic defense industrial advancement program and discuss how it will impact US-Turkey relations in addition to Turkey’s relations with other NATO allies. The Turkish government’s new program aims to modernize Turkey’s military forces and help balance its trade deficit, which provides a unique opportunity to improve cooperative endeavors between American and Turkish defense industry firms while increasing the vitality of the overarching relationship. Our expert defense industry panelists from both Turkey and the United States will provide valuable perspectives on the challenges and opportunities for future cooperation presented by the shift in Ankara’s defense industrial policy.

Speakers:

Col (Ret.) Jerry Kaffka

Jerry Hurd

Osman Okyay

Travis Caples

Despite resurgent support for protectionist trade policies, ongoing diplomatic uncertainty, and the obstacles created by new tariffs, one of the world’s best destinations for foreign direct investment (FDI) continues to be the United States. This trend holds true with U.S.-Turkish trade, as bilateral trade and the number of Turkish firms investing in the United States have both increased tremendously within the last five years, demonstrating the benefits of a robust, productive partnership. This panel will discuss viable markets for investment in the United States with the help of recent FDI patterns along with the impacts of the recent steel and aluminum tariffs imposed by the Trump Administration on trade relations between the two countries.

Both the United States and Turkey stand at the intersection between the past and future of infrastructure. As Turkey’s middle class grows, so does its demand for energy and access to amenities like personal vehicles, making the development of Turkey’s energy and transportation infrastructure integral to its economic growth for the immediate future. The United States, meanwhile, stands in desperate need of an infrastructure overhaul, both to maintain existing systems and to create new methods of meeting the demands created by new technologies. This panel will discuss how countries can benefit from mutual investment as well as business-to-business and business-to-government partnerships.

Speakers:

Defne Sadiklar Arslan

Ebru Ozdemir

Matthew Jordan Tank

Cloud computing is a scalable platform that uses servers pooled together to provide modern-day assets, such as virtual computing, storage, and additional services in order to meet the needs of every type of organization, from small-to-medium enterprises to multinational corporations and governments. However, the transition into the Cloud is often clouded by many unknown variables pertaining to security, privacy, reliability, and performance. For example, a security breach through one organization has the potential to affect everyone operating over the cloud, making it more important than ever for allies to work together to guarantee each other’s security online. Our expert panelists from Turkey and the United States from both sectors, public and private, will discuss the benefits and challenges of cloud computing, the best practices for cloud security, and the most effective methods of enhancing protection through the implementation of cloud-based services.

The majority of global energy investment is now going to renewable energy production, while almost two thirds of net power capacity around the world in 2017 was generated by renewable technologies. The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that, within the next five years, growth in renewable energy generation will be twice as large as that of gas and coal combined. This prodigious growth has prompted the American private sector to push for investment in renewable energy production, while Turkey has diversified its energy portfolio and made renewable energy production capacity the centerpiece of its new national energy strategy. This panel will explore the future outlook of renewable energy capacity and its impact on the electricity market as well as potential partnership and investment opportunities between the U.S. and Turkey.

Speakers:

Adam Stern

David Koranyi

Elvin Yuzugullu

Sinan Ak

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is becoming increasingly invisible and assimilated into our daily lives as it quietly penetrates almost every major industry, from healthcare and finance to transportation and education. AI has many benefits, but brings with it myriad potential challenges and questions that will affect the future of work, privacy, and public policy. Understanding the models used to design new AI technology is essential to maintaining public safety. AI’s potential impact on innovation and its inherent risks require us to identify the role that policy and institutions play in promoting effective incentives for safety. This panel will discuss AI’s potential of delivering benefits to society, increasing efficiency, improving quality of life, and the policies required to minimize risks.

Turkey remains the 19th largest economy on Earth and the second largest destination for Foreign Direct Investment in West Asia, attracting myriad international investors from around the world. Even during times of economic turbulence, many companies have chosen to invest their time and capital in Turkey. By investing in Turkey, private sector companies concurrently act as a bridge between the United States and Turkey, helping to maintain a durable relationship in difficult times. Join us as we ask high level executives from leading companies why they chose to invest in Turkey in particular, how recent financial turbulence has affected their investment strategies, and what advice they have for other companies seeking to follow in their footsteps.

Sponsors

Testimonials

See what our participants say about the conference:

Those of us who want to live in freedom, those of us who want to live in prosperity and those of us who want to live in safety, have to find ways to work together, particularly in times of political turmoil.

The Honorable Newt Gingrich

For over 6 decades, Turkey and the United States have been staunch allies and strong partners, bound by common values and mutual interests.

Ambassador Serdar Kılıç

… the U.S.-Turkey relationship has long made both countries safer, more innovative, and more prosperous.

Andrew Liveris

The United States and Turkey need each other. Ours is not a partnership of convenience or of temporary interests. It is one of conviction. A time tested alliance built on the enduring foundation of common interests, mutual respect, and shared values.